The Rebs fatally sharpshot Fort Sanders’ namesake Union Gen. William P. Sanders, with a thirteen-pound Whitworth. It was fired more than a mile away, from the tower of the Bleak House mansion, Gen. Longstreet’s headquarters.

The muzzle-loading, percussion rifle fired a one-inch projectile powered by a three-inch powder charge. It usually mounted a 14.5-inch sighting telescope. Reportedly even Queen Victoria could hit the bulls-eye with one at 400 yards.

In the 1860s, the Whitworth was terribly expensive at about $1,200. The Rock Island bidding starts at $6,500 but, since only 250 of the rifles are known to have been made for the Confederacy, they have been known to fetch $10,000 and more.